diff --git a/backend/interface.go b/backend/interface.go
index d3787d59b..b45f962f0 100644
--- a/backend/interface.go
+++ b/backend/interface.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import "errors"
 type Type string
 
 const (
-	Blob     Type = "blob"
+	Data     Type = "data"
 	Key           = "key"
 	Lock          = "lock"
 	Snapshot      = "snapshot"
diff --git a/backend/local.go b/backend/local.go
index ec41073ba..9ba203fbc 100644
--- a/backend/local.go
+++ b/backend/local.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	dirMode         = 0700
-	blobPath        = "blobs"
+	dataPath        = "data"
 	snapshotPath    = "snapshots"
 	treePath        = "trees"
 	lockPath        = "locks"
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ type Local struct {
 func OpenLocal(dir string) (*Local, error) {
 	items := []string{
 		dir,
-		filepath.Join(dir, blobPath),
+		filepath.Join(dir, dataPath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, snapshotPath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, treePath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, lockPath),
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ func CreateLocal(dir string) (*Local, error) {
 	versionFile := filepath.Join(dir, versionFileName)
 	dirs := []string{
 		dir,
-		filepath.Join(dir, blobPath),
+		filepath.Join(dir, dataPath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, snapshotPath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, treePath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, lockPath),
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func CreateLocal(dir string) (*Local, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// create paths for blobs, refs and temp
+	// create paths for data, refs and temp
 	for _, d := range dirs {
 		err := os.MkdirAll(d, dirMode)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -152,8 +152,8 @@ func (b *Local) renameFile(file *os.File, t Type, id ID) error {
 func (b *Local) dir(t Type) string {
 	var n string
 	switch t {
-	case Blob:
-		n = blobPath
+	case Data:
+		n = dataPath
 	case Snapshot:
 		n = snapshotPath
 	case Tree:
diff --git a/backend/local_test.go b/backend/local_test.go
index 938506890..056ba916f 100644
--- a/backend/local_test.go
+++ b/backend/local_test.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func teardownBackend(t *testing.T, b *backend.Local) {
 }
 
 func testBackend(b backend.Server, t *testing.T) {
-	for _, tpe := range []backend.Type{backend.Blob, backend.Key, backend.Lock, backend.Snapshot, backend.Tree} {
+	for _, tpe := range []backend.Type{backend.Data, backend.Key, backend.Lock, backend.Snapshot, backend.Tree} {
 		// detect non-existing files
 		for _, test := range TestStrings {
 			id, err := backend.ParseID(test.id)
diff --git a/backend/sftp.go b/backend/sftp.go
index 1e11c2fd5..ff5774295 100644
--- a/backend/sftp.go
+++ b/backend/sftp.go
@@ -19,15 +19,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	// dirMode         = 0700
-	// blobPath        = "blobs"
-	// snapshotPath    = "snapshots"
-	// treePath        = "trees"
-	// lockPath        = "locks"
-	// keyPath         = "keys"
-	// tempPath        = "tmp"
-	// versionFileName = "version"
-
 	tempfileRandomSuffixLength = 10
 )
 
@@ -83,7 +74,7 @@ func OpenSFTP(dir string, program string, args ...string) (*SFTP, error) {
 	// test if all necessary dirs and files are there
 	items := []string{
 		dir,
-		filepath.Join(dir, blobPath),
+		filepath.Join(dir, dataPath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, snapshotPath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, treePath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, lockPath),
@@ -139,7 +130,7 @@ func CreateSFTP(dir string, program string, args ...string) (*SFTP, error) {
 	versionFile := filepath.Join(dir, versionFileName)
 	dirs := []string{
 		dir,
-		filepath.Join(dir, blobPath),
+		filepath.Join(dir, dataPath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, snapshotPath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, treePath),
 		filepath.Join(dir, lockPath),
@@ -160,7 +151,7 @@ func CreateSFTP(dir string, program string, args ...string) (*SFTP, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// create paths for blobs, refs and temp
+	// create paths for data, refs and temp blobs
 	for _, d := range dirs {
 		// TODO: implement client.MkdirAll() and set mode to dirMode
 		_, err = sftp.c.Lstat(d)
@@ -241,8 +232,8 @@ func (r *SFTP) renameFile(filename string, t Type, id ID) error {
 func (r *SFTP) dir(t Type) string {
 	var n string
 	switch t {
-	case Blob:
-		n = blobPath
+	case Data:
+		n = dataPath
 	case Snapshot:
 		n = snapshotPath
 	case Tree:
diff --git a/cmd/khepri/cmd_cat.go b/cmd/khepri/cmd_cat.go
index 9a4c27291..0e3b67056 100644
--- a/cmd/khepri/cmd_cat.go
+++ b/cmd/khepri/cmd_cat.go
@@ -35,14 +35,14 @@ func commandCat(be backend.Server, key *khepri.Key, args []string) error {
 	switch tpe {
 	case "blob":
 		// try id
-		data, err := ch.Load(backend.Blob, id)
+		data, err := ch.Load(backend.Data, id)
 		if err == nil {
 			_, err = os.Stdout.Write(data)
 			return err
 		}
 
 		// try storage id
-		buf, err := be.Get(backend.Blob, id)
+		buf, err := be.Get(backend.Data, id)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/cmd/khepri/cmd_list.go b/cmd/khepri/cmd_list.go
index 46cf6bcc0..a58eee254 100644
--- a/cmd/khepri/cmd_list.go
+++ b/cmd/khepri/cmd_list.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 func commandList(be backend.Server, key *khepri.Key, args []string) error {
 	if len(args) != 1 {
-		return errors.New("usage: list [blobs|trees|snapshots|keys|locks]")
+		return errors.New("usage: list [data|trees|snapshots|keys|locks]")
 	}
 
 	var (
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ func commandList(be backend.Server, key *khepri.Key, args []string) error {
 		each func(backend.Server, backend.Type, func(backend.ID, []byte, error)) error = backend.Each
 	)
 	switch args[0] {
-	case "blobs":
-		t = backend.Blob
+	case "data":
+		t = backend.Data
 		each = key.Each
 	case "trees":
 		t = backend.Tree
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func commandList(be backend.Server, key *khepri.Key, args []string) error {
 	}
 
 	return each(be, t, func(id backend.ID, data []byte, err error) {
-		if t == backend.Blob || t == backend.Tree {
+		if t == backend.Data || t == backend.Tree {
 			fmt.Printf("%s %s\n", id, backend.Hash(data))
 		} else {
 			fmt.Printf("%s\n", id)
diff --git a/contenthandler.go b/contenthandler.go
index 68b3f75f1..271df9b76 100644
--- a/contenthandler.go
+++ b/contenthandler.go
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ func (ch *ContentHandler) SaveFile(filename string, size uint) (Blobs, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
-		blob, err := ch.Save(backend.Blob, buf)
+		blob, err := ch.Save(backend.Data, buf)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ func (ch *ContentHandler) SaveFile(filename string, size uint) (Blobs, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
-		blob, err := ch.Save(backend.Blob, chunk.Data)
+		blob, err := ch.Save(backend.Data, chunk.Data)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/tree.go b/tree.go
index ecc232814..ad5f64597 100644
--- a/tree.go
+++ b/tree.go
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ func (node *Node) CreateAt(ch *ContentHandler, path string) error {
 		}
 
 		for _, blobid := range node.Content {
-			buf, err := ch.Load(backend.Blob, blobid)
+			buf, err := ch.Load(backend.Data, blobid)
 			if err != nil {
 				return arrar.Annotate(err, "Load")
 			}